At age 21, Princess Ryan of Durkain must fulfill the destiny she'd been bound to before her birth. A deal struck between the infertile King and Queen and a Fae King. He blessed their marriage to bear as many children as they wished for one small price: the eldest daughter. She is destined to be the next Fae Queen, but when the betrothal comes with requirements she is unwilling to meet, she must find herself a different way to be useful to the Fae King before he declares the deal unfulfilled and takes her family's lives as sufficient payment.

Axel. The first successful subject. Three years older than me, two older than Kim and Jasper, but only a few months Bianca's elder. He was the oldest of us all. This meant he was alone during training. Alone with the Masters guidance. He was the best, and we all knew it. I had wattched him for years, admiring his skill and pushing myself to reach his level. He was the closest thing we had to real competition. Now we had to track him down when his own people could not.